A quiet night in with friends at an apartment block has taken a bloody turn after a man was allegedly slashed across the face by a neighbour who accused him of breaking in.

Riccardo Cazzato was arrested in Bondi in Sydney’s east on Saturday night, his hands wrapped in forensic bags. He is accused of pulling a knife on a man in the foyer of his own building, leaving 33-year-old Jose with slash wounds to his face and hand.

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“He has injuries which look terrifying, very near his eye, which shows that he was very, very lucky because even an inch apart would have really damaged him,” friend Martin Farooqi said.

Police have been told the victim had just left a dinner at his friend’s unit on the top level of the apartment block when he was confronted by Cazzato, who lives on the ground floor, allegedly accusing him of breaking in.

“This guy just rushes to him with a knife in his hand and pushes him against the wall,” Farooqi said. “In a matter of a few seconds, my friend was at the end of a knife,” the friend said.

It is understood Cazzato had reported a break-in earlier. One neighbour said they came out and asked if anyone had seen someone running away.

Jose, who moved to Australia from Chile, managed to escape, running a few hundred metres up the road for help.

He spent Sunday undergoing surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital, with plastic surgeons brought in to fix the injury above his eye. He doesn’t yet know what permanent damage there might be or, as a non-resident, how much it will all cost him.

Cazzato was granted bail on Sunday afternoon on a charge of reckless wounding.